[Nammymom]

A friend of mine in Germany has been having severe backproblems, including 2 surgeries on the disks between vertebrae. Her doctors all seem to advise against becoming pregnant, as that would put additional stress on her back. No doc seems willing to really tell her what could happen, though, or whether it'd be possible for her to have a healthy pregnancy. She is 32 years young, and has been going back and forth over the years on whether she should try becoming p.g. or not. Her back is OK now, as long as she exercises regularly, which she does. She's otherwise healthy. Healthy weight, non-smoker, in a good marriage.

She asked me to ask around if you know anyone who may have had similar backproblems and was still able to enjoy a healthy pregnancy and come through labor without any severe back problems. What advice would you give her? She's tried out various docs and therapies there (although I'm not sure if she's investigated acupuncture or cranio-sacral therapy yet). Thanks so much for your thoughts.

 

[JoAida]

I have one friend that has degenerative disk disease (early onset at 22) and she got pregnant and her back was better the entire pregnancy and for about a year afterwards. Something about the relaxation of the joints and muscles during pregnancy. Now, 2.5 years later, she is worse than ever and cannot even hold her son in her lap because of the back pain (unknown if this is due to the pregnancy, though). Another friend of mine had a buldging disk for about 4 years before becoming pregnant. The stress of her pregnancy caused her to have some permanent nerve damage and further aggrivated her condition-she also had a c/section because of unrelated complications.

It's a risk, and one I'm glad she is carefully considering.